Warren Gatland was satisfied with Wales’s first-half display against Georgia in their World Cup opener but knows they will have to improve as the competition goes on.
The Grand Slam champions raced out of the blocks in Toyota, securing a bonus point before half-time thanks to three tries from first phase on their way to a 43-14 success.
And while they were not quite as clinical after the break, Gatland was pleased to get maximum points with six days now to prepare for their pool clash with Australia.
He said: “We have been watching the games the last few days and the guys were itching to get on the field. I’m pleased with our first-half performance, we were pretty clinical, but we let things slip in the second half.
“We lost some continuity by making some changes and keeping players as fresh as we can.
“We have got those plays in the play-book and I’m pleased with the number we converted. We were pretty clinical in that first half but missed a few opportunities in the second half.
“We can take a lot of confidence from this game. We won in the autumn (against Australia) in a tight contest. We know as a team we tend to get better as the tournament goes on. There are a lot of things we can improve on in the week and that will be our focus.”
Skipper Alun Wyn Jones played the full 80 minutes of the victory as he played in his fourth Rugby World Cup.
And Jones echoed Gatland’s thoughts on the contrast between the performances in each half.
He added: “We said in the week that we had to come out of the blocks in that first half with the intent to replicate the training we had, and we were very positive.
“(I was) slightly disappointed second half with taking our foot off the gas and we let a few opportunities go second-half.”
